A Weekend With Romano
by Caedi.Tarian
Summary: Spain can't understand why Romano is so full of anger... At the request of their former boss, Belgium and a reluctant Netherlands are on a mission to show little Romano the good in hard work and, most of all, the importance of love and being loved.
1. Friday

**A Weekend With Romano  
Main Pairing**: None  
**Rating:** T  
**Info**: Slightly AU (first installment in my "Love Lessons" series). I've always seen young!Romano getting along well with the Benelux siblings. He puppy loves on Belgium and Netherlands beats up Spain… which is something I'm sure Romano appreciates every once and a while. Obviously dunno about Luxembourg, but _eh_. Since I'm several chapters ahead on my other story that updates on Fridays, I really wanted something short and sweet to update earlier in the week.  
**Warnings:** Young!Romano still has a foul mouth.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters, obviously.

* * *

**Chapter One: Friday**

"What the hell is taking them so long?"

With the same sheepish grin a normal man would give when his child calls a stranger in a market store something particularly rude, Spain meekly waved to the human lady who had paused in passing to stare at the tiny nation at his side. Once she continued on her way, shaking her head ever so slightly, Spain sighed and looked down at the pouting country. "Romano, that isn't very-"

"I don't care." Romano turned his furious glare to the street. "Bastard." Yet another bus passed their bench by, and the young nation bit his tongue to keep from flying into a full blown tantrum. He finally had the chance to leave, and now it looked like they had forgotten him… Then Spain gave his hair a friendly tussle, but Romano simply knocked the other nation's hand away. "Leave me alone."

Same old Romano. Spain grinned and went back to watching for the bus. He had a feeling that this trip would do little South Italy a great deal of good. Maybe getting to spend a couple days with Belgium would soften Romano up a bit. He wasn't expecting him to come bouncing off a bus Sunday evening ready to read a few chapters of Luke, but at least it would be a start. Not to mention Spain could use the time to clean up the destruction Romano had wrecked upon his house…

Another bus was coming, still coming, slowing down… Romano leaped from the bench with a cry of joy, hardly even noticing when Spain grabbed the back of his shirt until he realized that he was not getting any closer to the street. "Hey, let me go!"

"Don't run toward the bus while it's still moving, Romano!"

What if they weren't on that bus, either? Romano watched the doors open and the first few passengers were stepping down onto the sidewalk before he noticed that Spain still had a hold on him. "Let me goooooo!"

"For God's sake, would you please not smoke while he's with us?"

That voice! He knew that voice! "Bella!" Spain must have released him because Romano was finally able to run toward the bus to where Belgium and Netherlands were stepping onto the walk. As soon as he got to the siblings, however, Romano pulled to a sharp halt and looked up to see Spain had followed him.

"Bella, Holanda, bienvenido!"

It was like someone had flipped a switch, but instead of a dark room being lit, it was Spain's face. As he welcomed his two former subservient nations, it seemed that the former haggardness all but disappeared. His green eyes, so much like Belgium's Romano realized as he stared at the two older nations side by side, almost seemed to dance. It took Romano a moment to understand, but Spain was _happy_. It was the same when he used to say something that Spain thought was particularly adorable or such, but that was not so often any more…

"You ready to go, Romano?" Belgium bent slightly so that she was at eye level with him, her lips turned up in a warm smile.

Romano took a step backward as a sudden pang of shyness overtook his previous excitement, his cheeks flushing a rosy pink. "Y-yes, let's go!" With that he took his backpack from Spain, slung it over his shoulder, and gave a short nod. "Ready!"

Belgium nodded. "Right-o! And, here, you're going to need this!" She fished a bit of knitted fabric out of her purse and gingerly handed it to him.

It was a knitted, tri-colored hat. Romano stared at it for a second, instantly realizing that the colors were likely from that of a nation's flag, but… '_Red at the top, white in the middle… Blue on the bottom._' Romano looked up at Netherlands with a wide-eyed stare. It sure looked like the Dutch flag, but something was off about it… "Blue," he said simply. "It's the wrong blue."

After a moment of confused silence between the adult nations, Netherlands seemed to connect the odd comment with the fact that Romano was staring at him. "That's not _my_ flag," he said, almost indignantly. "It's Luxembourg's."

"Since he couldn't be here to pick you up, he wanted to make it up to you somehow," said Spain as he took the hat from Romano's hands and tugged it over the little nation's head. "It will be cold where you're going, so you should thank him when you see him next!"

Romano gave Spain a thoughtful frown and tugged at the older nation's sleeve. "I don't like the cold."

"It'll be all right," Belgium said, tweaking Romano's nose with a grin. "You'll be having so much fun that you won't even notice the cold, especially since you'll have your new hat!"

For a moment Romano simply stared at her as if trying to decide whether he believed her or not. Finally he nodded, though he jumped when Belgium then gave him a bear hug. He looked away from the other two male nations in an attempt to hide his reddening face.

"Aww, look at how adorable they are~"

Too late! He had been seen!

"Did you see his cute little face, Holanda? Es mi tomatito!"

"Don't touch me."

"Pero, Holanda… ¡Mira!"

"What did I just-"

"_¡Mira!_"

Belgium let go of him just in time for Romano to see Netherlands elbow Spain in the face, which sent the dark-haired nation to the sidewalk in an instant. "Spain?" Romano stared at his guardian. Had Netherlands…? Tentatively, Romano inched closer to Spain…

"Ai_ya_, Holanda!" Spain shot up into a sitting position, a hand pressed to the side of his jaw.

Romano, startled, ran back to Belgium with a shriek of terror. "Bastaaaard!"

"Come on, you two, settle down," Belgium chided, giving Romano a gentle pat on the head. "Besides, our next bus should be here soon, so you should go ahead and say good-bye, Romano."

Romano watched as Spain stared indignantly at Netherlands, who merely ignored him. He gave a small sigh and shuffled back to Spain, who still hadn't bothered to get to his feet just yet. "Ciao."

Just as Belgium had done mere moments before, Spain grabbed the small nation in a hug. "Adios, Tomatito. ¿Hasta luego, sí?"

In an instant Romano was a whirlwind of flailing limbs, but he settled at the sound of the soft Spanish words. "Yeah, whatever," he muttered as Spain drew away. "I hate you."

Belgium helped Spain to his feet just as a bus came to a stop right near them. "All right, this is our bus. Come on, Romano, we don't want to miss our flight!"

As Belgium ushered him on to the bus, Romano caught sight of Spain giving a halfhearted wave. He turned away with his nose in the air, though he couldn't help but feel just a little… sad.

::...::

Romano slept through most of the flight, and Belgium was immediately thankful that they, as nations always did, had the opportunity to fly coach. The little nation's legs were sprawled over the armrest in Netherlands' lap (it took a few choice words from Belgium to keep her brother from pushing Romano off the seat) and his head was nestled against Belgium's side. The green-eyed nation set her arm gently on Romano's side in a protective hug. She was glad that he would be spending the weekend with them… Not only was it an opportunity to get her brothers together for once, but Romano was always a bundle of joy to have around, anyway.

Netherlands didn't particularly think so. Aside from Romano's sudden interest in the tall nation on the bus ride due to his rough handling of Spain, they hadn't particularly gotten on. Hadn't talked at all, actually.

Belgium blew her bangs from her eyes in frustration as the plane bounced once, twice and then landed smoothly on the runway. She had to admit that she was a little surprised that she had been able to persuade Netherlands to come with her to pick Romano up at all (after several hours of bothering him, of course), but damn it all if she was going to just let him brood the whole weekend! "I think he likes you, Holland," she said softly, adding a small, forced smile for effect.

Netherlands was not impressed. "He bit me when I tried getting him to put the damn seatbelt on."

"That was because you pulled the belt too tight, you oaf! You're just grumpy because you can't smoke. Besides, he hasn't once called you a name or given you 'the glare'." Although she _had_ noticed Romano's tendency to dislike every male nation he came in contact with… Hopefully, over time, he would open up a little bit. Belgium looked down at the young nation fondly. As the plane slowed and then came to a stop, she gave Romano's shoulder a gentle shake. "Hey, wake up, little man. We're here."

"Uhhh, wha?"

When he opened his hazel eyes, Belgium pointed over her shoulder to the window. "We've landed. We're going over to Luxembourg's for the night. We want to be well rested for tomorrow, don't we?"

In an instant his grogginess seemed to disappear, and he scrambled into a sitting position. Somehow in that one chaotic movement he managed to both kick Netherlands in the stomach and quickly cop a feel on Belgium's chest… though that must obviously have been an accident.

Belgium shot her brother a hesitant smile that was returned with a frown. Well, at least they knew they could agree on one thing…

It was going to be a long weekend.

**AN:**  
In all my nation fics, they don't have human names (although Spain used Antonio as a name in the past), so they just sort of get creative to not sound like total dorks to the human passersby. As I found out when writing World Cup fics, Belgium being called Bella when Spain is around is always a fun coincidence (though of course we silly Spanish-speakers pronounce it differently).

I have a cousin who, when excited, starts babbling in Spanish. It's very endearing, but frustrating to our non-Spanish speaking friends and relatives. I thought it would work well with Spain, so that is why I finally allowed myself to have a nation actually speak its national language (I usually only reserve that for greetings and such).


	2. Saturday

**A Weekend With Romano  
Main Pairing**: None  
**Rating:** T  
**Info**: Still slightly AU. Thank all of you lovely reviewers for your kind words and sorry that I haven't updated this in ages. Work and classes have been just shy of murder. Enjoy!  
**Warnings:** There's some Luxembourg here, but I tried to keep him as scarce as possible.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters, obviously.

* * *

**Chapter Two: Saturday**

Luxembourg's house was much smaller than Spain's, so when the glorious smell of something that was obviously breakfast crept into his room, Romano was sprinting across the house in a matter of seconds. "Waffleeeessss!" He barely had time to register that it was Netherlands in the kitchen and not Belgium before he stepped onto the wooden floor. His socked feet found no purchase on the slick surface, and the tiny nation slid halfway across the kitchen, and then into Netherlands, before plopping over. He looked up with a scowl. "Watch where you're standing!"

Netherlands only gave him an annoyed glance before going back to preparing his coffee. "Maybe you should watch where you're going."

Taken aback by that response, Romano scrambled to his feet without comment. Spain would be checking to see if he had hurt himself and apologizing endlessly, but Netherlands didn't really seem to care. True, he _wasn't_ hurt and he hated the constant fussing, but… "What are you doing? Can I have some?"

"You wouldn't like it."

Romano snorted. "The hell would you know?" He grabbed the edge of the counter and stood on his toes in an attempt to see. "I know I like waffles." Not to mention he was hungry and he could _smell_ the sweet goodness…

The tall nation waved vaguely to the opposite counter and the colorful insulated basket set next to the kitchen sink. "Those are over there under the cover."

"Yes!" Romano bounded to the other counter and slowly, reverently raised his hands to the circular object. The wicker was warm against his palms, the scarlet cloth radiating a heavenly aroma as he pulled the basket into his arms. He turned to take the basket into the dining room, but then paused. Was it really worth asking? Maybe not, but it couldn't hurt to try. The little nation looked over his shoulder with a cautious glare. "Can I still have coffee?"

"Fine."

As Romano all but dashed into the dining room, he was happy to see that Belgium was already sitting at the head of the table. "I have the waffles," he said, gingerly setting the basket next to the small stack of plates by Belgium's steaming mug. "Are you drinking coffee, too?"

Belgium stifled a yawn as she reached for her mug, but then she smiled. "No, it's chocolate." After a moment's pause, she offered him the mug. "Want a taste?"

The younger nation hesitated, drawing his hands behind his back as if to say that _no_, he did not need chocolate and was perfectly fine with coffee. Then he glanced up to Belgium's amused grin and all but grabbed the mug from her hand. The chocolate was now lukewarm, but the intermingling flavors of cinnamon and nutmeg were more than enough to make up for the loss of warmth. Romano smiled as he handed the mug back. "S'good."

"Isn't it? Spain gave me the chocolate and he and Netherlands both pitched in for the spices." She leaned over slightly, lowering her voice conspiratorially. "_But_, there's a secret ingredient, too."

Romano waited for Belgium to continue, frowning when she simply turned her attention back to her mug. If she brought it up, why wouldn't she tell him what it was? "What is-"

"We have food here!"

A person suddenly rounded the corner from the kitchen, a platter of smaller dishes resting on one arm and a bread basket in the opposite hand. His hair was blonde, though darker than Belgium's, and his eyes a bright yellow-green. He ignored Romano's sudden scowl and set the basket and platter in the center of the table.

"Nice to see you're finally awake, Luxembourg."

"I'm sure _you've_ been awake for hours, my dear sister," the other nation said flatly, though a wide smile was plastered on his face.

A mug was set on the table in front of Romano, and the small nation jumped when he realized Netherlands must have entered the room after Luxembourg. "_I'm_ the one who's been up for hours. Cleaning your kitchen, actually."

As Luxembourg shot a sarcastic reply to his older brother, Romano slipped into the nearest chair and grabbed one of the plates from the stack. He didn't care what the tall, noisy nation had to say, and he was still very, very hungry. In a few, quick moments, two of the large waffles were on his plate and half of the strong, black coffee was long gone.

"You don't need that much jam, Luxembourg. Save some for the rest of us, why don't you?" Belgium chided, flapping a hand to her brother as he piled a generous amount of the toppings onto his bread. She narrowed her eyes when Luxembourg simply set the spoon aside and tilted the dish upside down. "Oh, what are you? A child?"

With a snort, Luxembourg watched as the remaining jam plopped onto his plate. "It wasn't like you were going to want any, Bel- Ow! Hey, what is your problem?"

Romano shifted his knife to his right hand in case he needed to throw it as well. "She said not to take it all, bitch."

Luxembourg was holding the fork that Romano had previously thrown at his shoulder, and he looked up with a glare at the younger nation's words. "What-"

"Shut up, Luxembourg." Netherlands glared at his brother when Luxembourg made to protest. As soon as the youngest of the siblings turned his attention back to his food, Netherlands turned his gaze to Romano. "And you stop throwing things or I'll throw you out the window."

"No, you won't." The reply was instantaneous, a defensive quip that felt all but programmed into his mind. He knew Netherlands _could_ easily throw him out a window, but he also knew that he simply wouldn't. So, that remark felt completely justified. At seeing Netherlands' deepening frown, Romano suddenly decided his coffee was much more interesting than the brothers.

Belgium sighed heavily and she shot Netherlands a glare of her own. "Well, the sooner we finish eating, the sooner we can leave."

::…::

It had not taken long before the Benelux siblings realized that, while Romano was prone to falling asleep on airplanes, he did not take nearly so well to cars. At first Luxembourg had been given the task of driving, but because he was so easily riled by the smallest of insults courtesy of Romano, Netherlands had forcibly taken over that task.

"I see snow out there." The white stuff was hiding in the shadows underneath the trees in small patches, but even just a little meant it was _cold_. Romano tugged his tri-colored hat lower over his ears with a groan.

"It will probably melt as the morning goes on." As the car pulled to a stop, Belgium immediately opened her door.

The air was cold, as he had known it would be, but the clear scent of evergreens and that distinct aroma that could be described as nothing but winter itself was almost enough to make up for it. Romano was not exactly fond of the idea of mountains and cold winters, but the smell reminded him immediately of spending time with his brother in the Italian Alps. He scrambled across the seat and hopped out of the car after Belgium. "That your cabin?"

"Switzerland's," Luxembourg said as he passed by them to get to the trunk.

Belgium closed the back seat door (and the passenger door as well since Luxembourg "forgot" to do so on his own) and nodded. "Switzerland is letting us stay here for the weekend. We can drop our stuff off inside before heading out."

Some time later, Romano was in the mountain woodlands, the top of his vision obscured by his hat and the fingers of his mitted left hand curled in his parka's pocket. He did not really think the forest "trail" was much of a trail at all, but the many rocks and animal burrows were as much of a blessing as a curse. After he had nearly tripped and fallen on his face for the third time, Belgium had offered to hold his hand to help steady and pace him. Of course he had accepted, but only after giving the appropriate child's rant about how he really didn't need any help at all and that by holding Belgium's hand he could help _her_ keep steady.

"Where are we going, Belgium?"

The older nation paused as Romano's left foot dipped into a hollow in the ground, tightening her hold on his hand to keep him from toppling over. "You'll see. My brothers and I have been here together before and we loved it. I'm sure you will enjoy it just as much as we did when we were little."

Romano gave Netherlands and Luxembourg, who were both a ways ahead, a wary glance. Belgium always sounded so happy when she talked about her brothers, but neither one of them was all that nice to her. It was sort of like how Veneziano was. When he nearly tripped over yet another tree root, he huffed in agitation. "I'm _tired_."

With a laugh that was more like a snort than the musical giggle he would have expected, Belgium slipped her hand from his and planted her fists on her hips. "Already, big guy? We're so close now!"

Huh? Romano frowned, but couldn't squeeze an indignant comment in before Belgium mowed him over.

"I can carry you on my back if you like."

…huh? Immediately Romano shook his head, feeling his face heat up. "N-no, I'm fine!" Besides, he was too big for that now, especially for someone as small as Belgium. "See? Look! I can walk still. I'm fine." To prove this, he took a few steps forward, looking back to Belgium with a grin.

And then he fell on his face.

"Romano! Are you all right?" Belgium was kneeling beside him almost instantly. "You tripped over that root there… Are you sure you're not too tired? We can go back to the cabin if you'd like."

"No, I'm not tired. Promise." He ignored the hand the other nation offered and got to his feet. Of course he would fall when Belgium was staring right at him. What a day this was turning out to be. Romano scowled when he realized Luxembourg and Netherlands had turned back to see what had happened.

"Luxembourg can carry you, Romano," Belgium said as she straightened to her full height. "We don't want you to get hurt. Isn't that right, Luxembourg?"

"No."

Netherlands very discreetly gave his brother a kick to the shin.

"_Fine_."

No, no, no. He did not want to be carried, especially not by that noisy jerk. Romano scowled when Luxembourg knelt beside him. "I don't need your help. Leave me alone. You're- Ack! Put me down!"

His hands firmly under the child nation's arms, Netherlands held Romano out to Luxembourg, who took much longer to stand up than was necessary. But, when the youngest of the siblings reached to take Romano, the little nation twisted about to grab at Netherlands' jacket. Netherlands stared at Romano for a second, his expression severe. "Do you want me to carry you?" he threatened.

What a mess. Luxembourg would throw him down the mountain trail sooner than carry him quietly, and Belgium was too worried to let him walk himself. Romano scowled and raised his chin imperiously. "Yes."

Netherlands promptly dropped Romano, who landed unsteadily on his feet, and glared at his sister as if to say _most definitely not_.

Belgium's stern look said that his vote didn't count.

"Oh, come on, Netherlands, we'll be out on this trail all day at this rate!" said Luxembourg, exasperated.

Hmph. Romano sniffed as the tall nation stooped to his level, scowling when Netherlands simply returned his glare.

Luxembourg clucked his tongue. "I wouldn't let the little beast near my throat if you paid me. You watch him, Brother."

"Hush," Belgium chided as Netherlands got to his feet, a surly Romano on his back. She rolled her eyes at her brother's suddenly distressed expression. "Oh, what's wrong with you?"

"Like. A. Vice."

"Like a _koala monkey_, Spain says. Get it right," Romano growled. He tightened his arms around Netherlands' neck.

Luxembourg snorted. "Koalas aren't monkeys."

With a reassuring tap on Romano's shoulder, Belgium simply smiled. "Aw, Romano is just so little and you probably scared him. You're about as tall as Denmark now, Netherlands!" She bumped her forehead to Romano's. "Don't worry. Brother won't drop you!"

If only he had that much faith in _his_ brother. Veneziano was just like Spain: a big stupid, smiling idiot. That wasn't fair. How could he get a stupid brother _and_ a stupid guardian? _I wish I coulda gone with Belgium when she left_. He could still ask. Maybe she wouldn't make him go back to Spain!

"Hurry up, then, we're almost there!" Luxembourg grinned before sprinting ahead.

"Watch it, the rocks by the river could be loose," Netherlands yelled, and Romano could practically hear the scowl in the older nation's voice.

Well, if he fell in the river then they would not have to listen to his voice the whole way back. Romano rolled his eyes, but did not dare voice this fact. Belgium liked her loud-mouth little brother. Figures. The little nation wiggled his ears, feeling the material of his hat shift. He didn't know why Luxembourg had even bothered buying him a hat.

In the following minutes, none of them spoke, though Romano shot glares at Luxembourg's retreating back every once and a while.

"Look there. There it is," Belgium suddenly said, all but skipping a few steps ahead of Netherlands. She turned as the trees gave way to open grass, which then fell away into open air. It was…

"A waterfall?" Romano eyed the waterfall a ways to their right and then the sheer drop off directly ahead. They hiked all that way to look at a river from this height? "Put me down, I wanna see." As soon as his feet were on the ground, Romano immediately went to Belgium's side. "This is the place?"

Belgium nodded happily. "Switzerland let Spain and France bring us hiking here a long time ago. We found this place by accident."

"Switzerland _let_ you come here?"

"He was a little different back then," said Belgium. "He didn't mind visitors."

"It's because there are some visitors that he's always liked more than others," Netherlands said flatly. "Who asked him to let us come this weekend?"

Belgium shushed her brother with a wave of the hand. "That trip was very dear to us all." Here she looked to Luxembourg, who managed a nod before returning to his task of looking over the edge of the cliff.

What was he looking at? Romano inched closer to the edge to see just what Luxembourg was staring at, and his eyes widened. The water was so far down, frothing gray-white against the pale walls of the narrow canyon. It was not anything too interesting, though.

Both Romano and Luxembourg jumped as Netherlands' placed a hand on a shoulder of each of them. "Come on, back up. The edges aren't safe."

Just as Luxembourg was about to protest, the shriek of rock on rock cut through the air. The ground shifted and then buckled underneath them.

Romano snarled as someone grabbed him, but suddenly the ground was gone completely. _No, no, no! Stop! I can't! Shit, that bastard! _But, despite the train wreck of expletives and denials in his mind, the only thing that he could voice was a scream of terror.

"Romano! Brother!"

Then, with a jerk, suddenly he wasn't falling anymore. Romano opened his eyes to see the opposite wall of the ravine staring back at him. He glanced down to see an arm wrapped around his middle, and he recognized the sleeve of Netherlands' coat. He looked up. Netherlands had managed to grab a narrow ledge and further up Belgium was pulling Luxembourg back over the edge of the canyon.

"There's a ledge further down. I'm going to let go and you will land there," Netherlands said through gritted teeth.

"Howdoyouknow? Don't you- Nooo!" Romano cut himself off immediately when he landed unsteadily on his feet not a second later. A moment later Netherlands gingerly lowered himself onto the ledge as well. Romano glared. "Now what?"

Netherlands sat down, massaging his shoulder with the slightest of winces. "Luxembourg has rope in his pack."

Good. "Hurry up and get us up, Luxembourg! Get the rope!" Romano snarled as the youngest of the siblings finally made it completely onto solid ground.

"And here I thought these things didn't happen when Spain wasn't around."

Plopping down next to Netherlands, Romano gave a huff of impatience. "Spain messes everything up. Always. He make this happen last time?"

"No." Netherlands glanced at Romano for a moment. "Didn't I say to stay away from the edge?"

Immediately Romano's jaw set. Oh, no. Not a lecture. "Who cares? You could have been saying it to scare us."

There was a moment of silence before Netherlands spoke again. "As their older brother, it's my job to protect them. When I say things like that, it's so that I can keep them safe. It's not to scare them or just to tell them what to do."

"Yeah, but-" Romano paused, stumped. Netherlands didn't look like he was lying. "What, you want an apology or something? Fine! Thanks for not letting me fall, jackass!"

"Do you always do that?"

"What?"

"Shout like a madman and curse whoever's closest to cover up the fact that you're not as apathetic and unreachable as you want us to think."

The retort died on the tip of his tongue as he caught Netherlands' sharp gaze. He was not condescending or berating him, just looking. Netherlands always looked like that. Romano recollected himself. "No. You don't know what you're talking about."

"Maybe not, but I like to think I do."

And what was that supposed to mean? Romano stared at the pale wall of the ravine across the waters. He was so tired… "Spain is always telling me to do stuff," he muttered. "I hate it. I hate him." Netherlands had to agree with him. Of all the people who had lived in Spain's house, Netherlands had been the one to hate him most.

Again there was no quick response. Netherlands was staring at the other side of the ravine, too. "You are the last one in his house and Spain never did like letting things go. All of us were once where you are now. Even Spain." Before Romano could interrupt, Netherlands glared. "He always favored you. I think it's because you remind him of Ancient Rome."

"He just makes me clean everything," Romano said sourly. No matter how hard he did try to do his chores, he could never do them right. Spain didn't "favor" him, just bothered him and was disappointed in him. Story of his life.

"Inherited my job, I see."

Except Netherlands was good at it.

"Did you see the difference in Luxembourg's kitchen from last night to this morning? I wouldn't be that meticulous if I hadn't spent years cleaning that mansion of Spain's."

…oh. Romano drew his knees to his chest. "He's always pinching my cheeks and saying I'm so cute. I am not!"

To Romano's surprise, Netherlands actually chuckled. "A bit of physical violence can deter him if you keep at it long enough. He finally got the point that he'd be unconscious for a while if he went near my sister like that. Honestly, though, he's harmless. Just a little overzealous in his doting."

"I feel I'm the adult half the time," Romano said miserably.

Netherlands looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "At least it's only half the time."

The end of a rope suddenly smacked into the rock between them and the paired looked up to see Belgium standing at the edge of the ravine. "Hurry, we've got you!" Then she disappeared.

With all seriousness Netherlands leveled his gaze to Romano's. "Ready, koala monkey?"

Now it was Romano's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Yep, climb us to Belgium!"

::...::

The cabin was warm, especially by the hearth. Romano huddled next to the fire with a mug of Belgium's secret ingredient hot chocolate in his hands, frowning at the window. It wasn't even dark yet! Figures. They could have stayed out a lot longer if they hadn't fallen in that ravine... Then again, he really did like sitting by the fire.

Luxembourg was out chopping wood or something equally boring, Belgium was in the kitchen working on something secret, and Romano had lost track of Netherlands when they all arrived at the cabin. What a day this was turning out to be.

"You still feeling all right, Romano?" came Belgium 's voice suddenly.

"Uh, yeah," he called uncertainly. He really did not want to go through another full inspection. Already Belgium had declared him hale and hearty... three separate times.

The older nation shuffled into the den with a large plate in hand and she settled on the rug next to Romano. "Emmental, courtesy of Switzerland himself," she said, setting the plate of sliced cheese and apples on the rug. "Eat up, kiddo."

Romano set his mug on the stone floor and looked Belgium in the eye. This was important, so important that words could not even describe how important it was. "Belgium, I need to know what the secret ingredient in the chocolate is." He _had_ to know.

Belgium stared at him for a moment before realization lit her face and she laughed. "Oh, Romano, do you have to ask? I meant _love_. Love was the secret ingredient."

And just like that that little ray of hope and expectation was shattered. He returned her stare blankly. "What?"

"It was my birthday gift," Belgium said softly, her gaze suddenly distant. Her smile changed ever so slightly, still bright and still as happy as ever and yet... "You know Spain and Netherlands are very different. They can't be in the same room for long before they're at each other's throat." All at once a tinge of sadness seeped into her voice. "But, they still planned this together and had to actually talk to each other to make the chocolate for me. I have the best family that any nation can ask for. That includes you, too!"

Oh. Well. Romano frowned as he looked to the fire. That was... a little disappointing, and he was not thinking solely about the chocolate part anymore.

Chuckling, Belgium pulled him into a one-armed hug. "I'm very glad that you are with us this weekend, Romano."

Even if he ruined their Saturday by falling off a cliff? Romano yawned, but otherwise leaned against the older nation silently. He was so tired.

"I'm here for you, Romano. Get some rest if you like."

He was already falling asleep.

**AN:**  
Only one more chapter left (the fluffiest chapter of the three and my favorite among them, I must say). :0 I won't take forever to update, I promise.

In case you're curious (since the timeline is AU), in human standards Romano would be about eight or so, Luxembourg in the mid-teens, and Belgium and Netherlands in the later teens. Spain is a few years older than them since, as of this story, he's the only actual "adult" nation in the gang (Belgium and Netherlands are almost there, though).


End file.
